


Candy is Dandy (But Liquor is Quicker)

by RyanTheTwit



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alcohol, Cigarettes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 23:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3151610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyanTheTwit/pseuds/RyanTheTwit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, yes, candy was dandy with their sweetness and sugar, but liquor is quicker with their hook, line, and sinker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Candy is Dandy (But Liquor is Quicker)

**Author's Note:**

> Each break is supposed to represent a different event, so that's why there are wild jumps in the timeline.

 

The first time Ray saw Joel, his heart beat a little bit faster.

The messy hair, lazy smile, and his laugh was the things that Ray noticed at first. He barely registered Barbara introduce him to Joel. The warm, brown eyes were drawing him in, and Ray let out a shaky smile with a equally shaky breath. Barbara called out his name and it shook him out of his daze with a small blush blooming across his cheek. Joel held out a hand with a crooked grin and a bright look in his eyes. Ray shook his hand and all he could think of was how warm it was and that it nearly swallowed his own.

After they had introduced each other, Joel offered a neatly wrapped lollipop to Ray. Ray took with a small thank you and a polite smile, Joel sporting that same grin all the while.

He didn’t see Joel candy out to anyone else.

Ray dismissed it. Maybe he only had one.

\------------------------------

The second time Ray saw Joel was surprisingly not long after.

Ray needed to record a Top Ten with someone, since everyone else was busy, and Gavin suggested he do it with Joel. Ray rolled his eyes and complained that he’d rather do it with someone that he knew, but he forced himself out the door and into Joel’s office. With a quick, stuttered apology, Ray managed to ask if Joel would record a short video with him. Joel clicked something on his computer a few times before agreeing and getting up.

Again, he fished a lollipop out of his pocket and offered it to Ray. He took it again and placed it in his jacket pocket with another thank you.

“Candy for something equally sweet,” Joel had mumbled, as if he was saying it to himself. Ray froze, but managed to let out a small laugh.

“That’s funny, Joel.”

The viewers commented on how Ray was unusually stuttering.

\------------------------------

The third time Ray saw Joel besides occasional glimpse was at the Rooster Teeth Christmas party. The largest room was decorated and filled with food and drinks for everyone to enjoy. Lights were strung up and a large Christmas tree sat in the corner, glittering and bright. Ray was talking to Gavin about how boring the last Minecraft Let’s Play was when Ray saw Joel come in. His eyes only glanced over to him, but it wasn’t the last look Ray managed to sneak in.

After a while, Gavin excused himself to go talk to Meg, and Ray left the building to escape from the stuffy atmosphere of the party. The smell of cigarettes filled his nose.

“Hey Ray.”

Ray muttered a quiet, “Hello,” and leaned against the wall next to Joel. The tip of the cigarette glowed a bright red as Joel took a drag out of it. After flicking away the ashes, Joel offered a lollipop to Ray. He took it.

“Do you always have lollipops with you?” Ray asked. Joel shrugged.

“Right place, right time.”

“For the lollipops?”

“For you.”

His mouth tasted like cigarettes and candy after the party.

Joel never failed to have candy in his pocket after that.

\------------------------------

Everything was alright. Ray was more comfortable with Joel than anyone else in the company, and he constantly had a lollipop in his mouth. No one knew where he got all that candy from, and no one asked. They knew that Ray would just shrug and say an excuse that changed every time. Wrappers littered Ray’s desk and sticks were thrown into the trash can. Cigarettes scattered the parking lot outside and empty Marlboro in the trash cans in his.

Each morning Joel would give Ray a lollipop, one when they left for their offices, one for lunch, another when they met up at his car, and one when they got home. Despite Ray complaining that he would get a cavity, Ray took it without any other hesitance.

But as time progressed, Ray’s mouth became sweeter and Joel’s became bitter.

\------------------------------

Slowly, cigarettes were replaced with whiskey and lollipops were left in a small cup in the corner of a desk, long forgotten. More sick days and tired eyes for Ray to greet most mornings. Other mornings Joel was hungover and screaming.

Joel was more snappy and short-tempered, an unwelcoming look in his eyes. A frown was carved into his face and creases in his forehead.

No lollipops in the world can get rid of the sour taste in Ray’s mouth.

\------------------------------

When Joel came home, he had a pocket full of cigarettes on the left, and lollipops on the right- the sticky sweetness slightly melted and clinging. The smell of liquor stained his mouth and coated the back of his tongue, suffocating him and clouding his mind. There was no sign of warmth in Joel’s eyes as he brushed past him. Ray stood there for a moment, half-expecting Joel to hand him a lollipop. It was a simple routine that meant nothing to passerbys. A simple routine that in a matter of days was set. But now, the routine was abandoned.

It bothered Ray to no end.

\------------------------------

Which led to this situation.

Lollipops were scattered on the floor and cigarettes in whiskey bottles floated gently. Ray had just come home from work and was arrived with an open door and closed eyes. He dropped his backpack and walked over to Joel. He was passed out on the couch with a bottle of beer dangling from his hand. Ray sighed and looked at the mess in the apartment, which had been clean in the morning.

Ray was used to it.

He started gathering all the candy and the cancer sticks and their discarded boxes. He gathered empty beer bottles and half-drunk whiskey to put back on the counter. Joel stirred and Ray stopped his clattering to watch him settle into a drunk sleep once more.

This was the face he fell for- warm, brown eyes and gravity-defying hair, a cheeky smile and wheezy laughter. All those things enticing him like the sweets he consumed, but left a bitter taste.

So, yes, candy was dandy with their sweetness and sugar, but liquor is quicker with their hook, line, and sinker.

\------------------------------

When Joel woke up, the candy was in a neat bunch and the cigarettes were gone along with any trace that someone else lived there.

 


End file.
